richardson



J. N. RICHARDSON.

UNDERFEED MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. H. I916.

1,314,903. Pa tentedSept. 2,1919.

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J. N. RICHARDSON.

UNDERFEED MECHANISM.

1,314,903. APPLICATION men .APR. 11. I916. Patentedsept. 2,1919.

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srrnrrnsr TENT-OFFICE,

JOI-IN N."RICI-IARDSON,'OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR THE WIIAIJIAMS ONHEATER COMPANY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, A CORPORATION 'OF ,OHIOI.

UNDERIFEED MECI-IIANIISIIVI. 1

Application filed April 17,

To all whpm it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J oim NJRICHARDSON, a citizen of the United States,and residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Underfeed Mechanism, ofwhich the following specification is a full disclosure. a

My invention relates to a fuel underfeed mechanism for'fu'rnaces,primarily intended for household heating and adapted touti lizepulverized coal or slack, and the principal object is to' provide meansholding the charger rigidly in a horizontal plane when lifting the fuelforcharging.

In said invention the grate of the furnace is formed with a fuelcharging port disposed in a horizontal plane so as to permit the fuel tobe passed vertically and concentrically upward throughithe grate portinto the lower portion of the'combustion chamber, and the ash-pit isformed with a fuel receiving opening in a vertical plane, permitting thefuel to be shoveled into the upper end of the container. 7

There isa fuel container or cylinder movably mounted'in the ash-pit, andmeans for bringing it into alternate registry with said i 1 port andopening, the cylinder being in vertical positionfor charging the fuel,andjn position for gravity filling when alined with the ash-pit opening.

There is a fuel charger or piston in the container or cylinder, andmeans for raising it when the cylinder is alined with the grateport,a1nd means for dropping the charger to the bottom of the containerwhen the container is adj aeent to the fuel receiving opening. Thepiston is preferably operated by a flexible or'lever-type piston rodhinged to the under side'of the piston, and means are disposed outsideof the ash-plt for rocklng the container and for operating the levertypepiston 'rod,'preferably in step movements.

One of the objects of the invention is to compaet'theoperatire part ofthe mechanism which is within the ash-pit so as not to require an undulylarge or vertically deep ash-pit.

Therefore, I have so constructed and arranged the interior operatingmechanism that it lies and functions between thehorizontal axis'on whichthecylinder is rocked Specification of Letter s Patent.

derfeed cylinder or its port-closing follower.

mama Sept. 2, 1919i 1916. Serial 1 10191307.

and the are described bythe upper endof the cylinder. This perniits'thecylinder to be pivoted in thdash-pit, slightly aluivemmeansforpositively guiding the piston 'axially when the cylinder is in itsalternate 10- sltions.

The piston "and cylinder are designed to support and hold a rather heavyload of coal, say fifty pounds, which has to be lifted verticallythrough the cylinder and be forred through the grate portin'op'positioir to the weight of the fuel in the combustion chamber;Necessarily this load offuel cannot be evenly distributed over thepiston areafand as the piston is moved through a lever hinged tothe'undersideof the piston, it desirable to provide means indepemilen'l"of the piston rod which will hold the piston positively and accuratelyatright angle's to. the axis of the cylinder throughout the pistonmovement and when the cylinder -is in either one of its alternatepositions. Therefore,'preferably, this guide provisiofrextends in aradial direction to the horizontal axis on which the eylinder is rocked.

In my underfced, I employanannulus grate providing a central openingconstituting a fuel-charging port and enabling-the rocking oroscillating of the annulus gra'te in relation to the centrallyregistering'un- The general character of the me'chanisn'i is disclosedin a former joint application of myself and'Edward A. Muller, Serial"No. 8%,486, filed June 22, 1914, and also in my former "application,Serial No. 91,808,'filed April 17, 1916, patentedMa-reh 19,1918, No.1,260,056, the objects of the" present improvement being above indicatedand the differentiating mechanism being herein claimed.

These and other features 'oftheinvention will be more fully set forth inthe description of theaccompanying drawings rfOlmlllg" a part of this,specification, and disclosing Fig. 2 is a similar viewshowing thecylinder in fuel receiving position, with the plunger and its operatingrack at the limit of fuel charging position ready to be released tolower the plunger.

Fig. 3 is a detailed view of therack and pawl mechanism in releasedposition.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the cylinder.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view similar to Fig. '2,

showing the plunger in its lower position.

Fig. 6 is a similar sectional view showing the cylinder in chargingposition and the plunger in elevated position.

The fuel cylinder or container 1 is pivotally mounted within theash-pit, and when .in vertical charging position, as shown: in

Fig. 1, registers with a charging port 2 in the grate 3. A chargingplunger or fuel elevator 4 slides in the cyl nder, its upper surface andthe upper surface ofa shield 5,

. which'extends rearwardly from the top of the cylinder, form, when theplunger isin its 7 being preferably positioned just slightly above thefloor line. The fuel container or cylinder 1 is formed with extensions52 proj ecting radially downward from opposite sides of the bottom ofthe cylinder, in the lower ends of which the pivots 51 have bearings,thus enabling the cylinder to rock into alternate registry with thegrate port and the'fuel receiving openlng. v p

The cylinder is limited in its rearward swing by a lug,6, upon whichtherear end of theshield 5 rests when the cylinder'is in charging position.To the web 7 of the cylinder is pivoted an arm 8, which is connected to,the plunger 4, bya link 9, said pivot extending through the web 7 andhaving secured thereto an arm 10, to which is pivotally connected thetoothed charging or ratchet bar. 11. To the side of the cylinder ispivotally connected :the tilting link '12, which extends exteriorly ofthe ash-pit and is pivotally connected to a rocker element or tiltingplate 13. Said plate is pivoted at 14,-

on abase extension 15, and is provided with a handle socket 16,receiving the tilting handle 17. 18 represents a fulcrum pin which issecuredin the tilting plate and projects through anelongated slot 19 inthe toothed ratchet bar 11, thereby serving as a support andguide forthe outer endthereof.

i Loosely pivoted on the fulcrum pin 18, between thetilting plate andthe ratchetbar is an oscillatory actuator member or pawl carrying plate20, which is provided with a socket 21, receiving a charginghandle 22.

ratchet elements 23, 24, which engage the upper and lower toothed edges25, 26, of said bar. The pawl 23 is a gravity pawl and the pawl 24' isprovided with a pin 27, which projects through a slot 28 formed in theforward arm of a release lever 29. Said release lever is pivoted on thepin 18 and has a weighted arm 30 extending to the rear of its pivotalpoint.

This construction, in fact, makes the pawl 24 also a gravity pawlthrough a second ele-- ment, (the weighted release lever). The pawl 23has a downwardly projecting arm 31, carrying a pin 32, which is in thepath of i movement of shoulder 33 of the release lever 29. The releaselever has a fo0tplate34 at its forward end and by an examinationof Fig.3, it will be seen that a downward pressure on the foot-plate 34will'rockthe releaselever 29 and disengage both pawls from theirrespective toothed edges 25, 26, ofthe i charging bar 11. Suchdisengagement will permit the charger 4 to drop by gravity un til therear edge of the arm 8 strikes a ledge 35 on the web 7. To prevent thecharger from dropping too rapidly, a retarding'device has beenincorporated in connection with the release lever and consists'in abrake arm 36, which is secured to the forward arm 30 of the releaselever and hasan inturned lower end projecting beneath the V ratchet bar.The lower edge of the ratchet bar ad acent to the teeth is undulated andwhen the release lever is rocked, (see Fig. 3), theinturned end of thebrake arm 36 en]- gages these undulations, with the effect of' retardingthe lateral movement of, the ratchet bar.

In the positionv shown in Fig. 1, therelease lever is inoperative totrip the pawls, 7 because as soon as it 'is rocked slightly, its

forward end will contact with the floorplate 38; This would partlywithdraw the I pawl 24, but such movement is not suflicient to bring theshoulder 33 of the release lever 7 into contact with the pin 32 of theawl 23 to rock said pawl unless there is su cient free play in the partsto permitthe charging handle 22 to rock backward beyond its normal "therearwardly projecting arm thereof. The forward hooked end engages over apin 43 on th e pawl carrying plate 20 and retains it in 1ts normalposition. When the tilting plate 13 is rocked, the pin 43 rises into a.notch 44 in the latch plate 40, which pre whenthe pawls aretr pped.

Q The :3

. e .9 ope ati a fe ows: Referring j to" 1,

it will be assumed that thecylinder is "full of fuel and it ,is desiredto chargethe furnace. H The charging handle 22 is rocked backwardandforward totransmitastep by step movement to the ratchet or chargingbarll, thrbu thepawland1 tooth mechanism, After t e char eri t y tilteforwardly 'to' fuel receivlng, position, 69 Fig.

s fully. elevated, the cylinder is engage the pawls and to allow,theplunger to drop under control of the retarding brake arm 36, theefiectiveness of which depends upon the pressure applied to the footlate34. The cylinder is now refilled with" resh fuel and the tilting lever17 is ro cked forward to swin the cylinder to charging po the axis ofthe cylinder, and also radially with relation .to the horizontal axis onwhich the cylinder rocks. The piston 4 is relatively thin, and itsperiphery is formed with downwardly extending flanges 54, formed withthe keys 55 extended below the piston and fitting into the key seats 53.This key seat arrangement preferably extends radially to the are ofcylinder swing, and holds the. piston rigidly and accurately at rightangles to the axis of the cylinder throughout the piston movement whenthe cylinder is moved to either of its alternate positions. Also, thisaxially extended keyseat provision enables the use of a relatively thinpiston, which is desirable when slack or pulverized coal is to be used,as a piston thick enough to prevent tilting would involve too greatdimensions of bearmg surfaces, and fine fuel working in between theperipheral portions of the piston and cylinder would cause binding.

In this invention, preferably, the pistonflange keys extend down to orbeyond the point Where the piston rod or lever is pivotally connected tothe under side of the piston and so effectually prevent the piston fromtilting in the cylinder. Also, the extension of the key ways onto theradial legs 11 enables the piston to be moved to the extreme lower endof the cylinder. These key seats and keys extend radially from thehorizontal axis on which the c linder swings, so that the piston is heldrigidly at right angles to this radius in either position of the clinder. Preferably, the upper face 0 the by rockin the tilting platel3,by means of the han le 17.. The release lever 29 is now rocked, (seeFig. 3), to dispiston has a spherical contour to coincidev with thecontour of the apron 5 when the piston is-atthe upperjend ofits"movement. j

The mechanisms, 1 are 'compact, easily op-t erated by, nonskilledattendants, and the mechanisms operate'on, rinciples effectuallypreventing the malfuncioningof theparts. At the same timethis mechanism'may be readily applied" to a furnace or ordinary y dimensions withouttaking up too much7'5 roo'mjin the cellarand the mechanism can 7 beeasily connected up" with the fuinace.

The principles of the invention are susceptible of wide varieties inthelight of this disclosure. e

It is most 1 important to anama and mount the gratein relation to theunderfeed in' a manner permitting saidgrate to' be" oscillated'aboutits"vertica1 axis whilei, either the piston inits uppermost position orthe follower is in registry with ,thecens, tral grate opening,e'nabling' 'the ashes to be shaken out, the central portion of the fuelbed being supported stationary by the underfeed elements, while themarginal fuel body is supported by the oscillating grate and can bemoved around this fixed center, thus torsionally breaking up the fuelbed most advantageously thereby freeing the ash. This is effected byproviding the grate with an annular rib 56 resting on a vertical roller57 pivotally mounted in a bracket 59, the grate being guided by ahorizontal roller 58 also pivotally mounted in the bracket 59 andbearing against the inner side of the rib 56 of the grate. There areseveral pairs of these rollers distributed around the margin of thegrate, but in the drawings only one pair is shown.

Certain phases and features of the mechanism herein disclosed but notclaimed are made the subject-matter of a separate application filed ofeven date herewith, Serial No. 91,808.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. A fuel underfeed forfurnaces comprising a circumferential grate providing a central fuelport, a cylinder and port closer in the ash pit movable into and out ofregistry with said port, a piston having a key slide engagement withinthe cylinder, means for moving the cylinder, and independent means formoving the piston.

2. A fuel underfeed for furnaces comprising a circumferential gratemovable on its axis and providing a central fuel port, a cylinder andport closer in the ash pit movable into and out of registry with saidport, a piston having a key slide engagement within the cylinder, a rodhinged to the piston, means for moving the cylinder, and independentmeans for operating said hinged piston rod.

3. A fuel underfeed for furnaces com- 'prisinga circumferential gratemovable on movable into and out of registry with'said" prt,;a pistonforinedwith a thin peripheral edge in said cylinder, the, piston andcylinder beingform'edwith a key"slidefen gagement, a rod hinged to saidpiston, means for moving the cylinder, and independent,

means for moving the piston.

114. A .fnel nnderfeedg ferifurna ce's colnv prisingacircumferentialgrate providing a c entralfuel port, a cylinder and port closer in the,ash fpit movable into and out of registry With'said port, a thinperipheral edged piston in the cylinder havlng flanges formed with a.key slide engagement within thecylinder, a rod hinged to the piston,means for moving the cylinder, and independent means vfor operating thehinged'piston rod.

(topic: et this iatentmyfbe obtained for five cents each, by("addressing the Cpmmissibner 'of Patentsi i 5 A, fuel underfeed forfurnaces com prisingan annular grate ha ingfla 'fnel port, a cylinderand port'closer fin the ashjpit" movable into and out o? registry yv'ithsaid raising'the piston in 'seriesOfshOrt, defi;

nite steps f or'positively supporting, thepis-f ton atthe end of eachstep, and means 01 returning the pistenflin a single movement" When'thecylinder "is Out ofregistry with thefliel port.- 1

In Witness Wherebf, I herenntdsubscribemy'name, as attested 'by thejtwesubscribing Witnesses. i v,

JOHN RICHARDSON] Witnesses: I v EMMA SPENER,

LIA. BECK.

